Valve construction and method of making the same

ABSTRACT

A valve construction and method of making the same are provided, the valve construction comprising a housing provided with a chamber therein and with an inlet leading to the chamber and outlet leading from the chamber, a valve seat carried by the housing and leading to the outlet, a movable bimetallic lever carried by the housing and having an operating bimetallic part, a heater wire disposed in coiled relation about the operating part to heat the same when an electrical current flows through the heater wire, and a valve member carried by the bimetallic lever for opening and closing the valve seat under the control of the operating part of the bimetallic lever, the operating part of the bimetallic lever having a fastening unit operatively interconnected to the heater wire to tend to hold the heater wire in the coiled relation on the operating part of the bimetallic lever, the heater wire comprising a length of the wire doubled upon itself to define a looped end and pair of free ends adjacent each other with the looped end being part of the heater wire that is operatively interconnected to the fastening unit of the bimetallic lever, the operating part of the bimetallic lever having an opening passing therethrough and receiving the looped end of the wire therethrough whereby the opening comprises the fastening unit of the operating part of the bimetallic lever.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional patent application of its copendingparent patent application, Ser. No. 409,243, filed Sept. 19, 1989, nowU.S. Pat. No. 4,958,801 dated Sept. 25, 1990.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a new valve construction and to a new methodof making such a valve construction.

2. Prior Art Statement

It is known to provide a valve construction comprising a housing meansprovided with a chamber therein and with an inlet leading to the chamberand an outlet leading from the chamber, a valve seat carried by thehousing means and leading to the outlet, a movable bimetallic levermeans carried by the housing means and having an operating bimetallicpart, a heater wire means disposed in coiled relation about theoperating part to heat the same when an electrical current flows throughthe heater wire means, and a valve member carried by the bimetalliclever means for opening and closing the valve seat under the control ofthe operating part of the bimetallic lever means, the operating part ofthe bimetallic lever means having a fastening means operativelyinterconnected to the heater wire means to tend to hold the heater wiremeans in the coiled relation on the operating part of the bimetalliclever means, the heater wire means comprising a length of the wire meansdoubled upon itself to define a looped end and a pair of free endsadjacent each other with the looped end being the part of the heaterwire means that is operatively interconnected to the fastening means ofthe bimetallic lever means. For example, see the Shopsky U.S. Pat. No.4,685,652.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is one feature of this invention to provide a unique bimetallic levermeans for a valve construction.

In particular, it was found according to the teachings of this inventionthat when a heater wire means is to be coiled about an operating part ofa bimetallic lever means, the same can be doubled upon itself to definea looped end and a pair of free ends adjacent each other with the loopedend being inserted through an opening means in the operating part of thebimetallic lever means to hold the heater wire means in its coiledrelation on the operating part of the bimetallic lever means.

In this manner, the operating part of the bimetallic lever means cancomprise a substantially flat member without having any projectionsextending out of the plane thereof so that such part can be readilyhandled by automatic assembling machinery without having parts thereofstick together because of the projections thereof hanging up on adjacentparts.

Accordingly, one embodiment of this invention provides a valveconstruction comprising a housing means provided with a chamber thereinand with an inlet leading to the chamber and an outlet leading from thechamber, a valve seat carried by the housing means and leading to theoutlet, a movable bimetallic lever means carried by the housing meansand having an operating bimetallic part, a heater wire means disposed incoiled relation about the operating part to heat the same when anelectrical current flows through the wire means, and a valve membercarried by the bimetallic lever means for opening and closing the valveseat under the control of the operating part of the bimetallic levermeans, the operating part of the bimetallic lever means having afastening means operatively interconnected to the heater wire means totend to hold the heater wire means in the coiled relation on theoperating part of the bimetallic lever means, the heater wire meanscomprising a length of the wire means doubled upon itself to define alooped end and a pair of free ends adjacent each other with the loopedend being the part of the heater wire means that is operativelyinterconnected to the fastening means of the bimetallic lever means, theoperating part of the bimetallic lever means having an opening meanspassing therethrough and receiving the looped end of the wire meanstherethrough whereby the opening means comprises the fastening means ofthe operating part of the bimetallic lever means.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a new valveconstruction having one or more of the novel features of this inventionas set forth above or hereinafter shown or described.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new method of makingsuch a valve construction, the method of this invention having one ormore of the novel features of this invention as set forth above orhereinafter shown or described.

Other objects, uses and advantages of this invention are apparent from areading of this description which proceeds with reference to theaccompanying drawings forming a part thereof and wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the new valve construction of thisinvention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line 2--2 of FIG. 1and illustrating the valve construction of this invention being disposedin a fuel control system that is schematically illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line 3--3 of FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the operating part of the bimetallic lever meansof the valve construction of FIGS. 1-3 before the heater wire means iscoiled on such operating part.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view illustrating one ofthe steps of the method of this invention for forming the bimetalliclever means for the valve construction of FIGS. 1-3.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross-section view taken on line 6--6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 5 and illustrates another step in themethod of this invention.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 and illustrates another step in themethod of this invention.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 and illustrates another step in themethod of this invention.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 and illustrates another step in themethod of this invention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 11--11 of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 10 and illustrates another step in themethod of this invention.

FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 12 and illustrates another step in themethod of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

While the various features of this invention are hereinafter illustratedand described as being particularly adapted to provide a valveconstruction to provide a flow of gaseous fuel to a burner means of acooking apparatus or the like, it is to be understood that the variousfeatures of this invention can be utilized singly or in variouscombinations thereof to provide a valve construction for supplying othertypes of fluid for other apparatus as desired.

Therefore, this invention is not to be limited to only the embodimentillustrated in the drawings, because the drawings are merely utilized toillustrate one of the wide variety of uses of this invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, the new valve construction of this inventionis generally indicated by the reference numeral 20 and comprises ahousing means 21 formed from a metallic cup-shaped housing part ormember 22 having an open end 23 closed by another metallic housing partor member 24 that is held in place by a turnover flange means 25 of thehousing member 22 and is sealed in place by a sealing gasket means 26 soas to provide a substantially fluid type chamber 27 in the housing means21.

The housing means 21 has an inlet 28 leading to the chamber means 27 andan outlet 29 leading from the chamber means 27. The inlet means 28 isdefined by a tubular inlet fitting 30 secured in an opening 31 in thehousing part 22 and the outlet means 29 is defined by a tubular outletfitting 32 that is secured in an opening means 33 passing through theother housing part 24.

The outlet fitting 32 carries a valve seat member 34 that is adapted tobe opened and closed by a valve member 35 that is carried on an end 36of a bimetallic lever means that is generally indicated by the referencenumeral 37 and comprises an operating bimetallic part 38 secured to anambient temperature compensating bimetallic part 39 in any suitablemanner, such as by spot welding or the like.

A wire means 40 is disposed in coiled relation on the operatingbimetallic part 38 in a manner hereinafter set forth so that when thesame has an electrical current passing therethrough, the heater wiremeans 40 heats the operating part 38 in a manner to cause the same towarp and carry the valve member 35 away from the valve seat 34 so as toopen the valve seat 34 to the chamber 27 in the valve construction 20and, thus, to the inlet means 28. However, when the electrical currentis not passing through the heater wire means 40, the operatingbimetallic part 38 of the bimetallic lever means 37 cools and has anormal biased position as illustrated in FIG. 2 wherein the same holdsthe valve member 35 in its closed position against the valve seat 34 soas to prevent fluid flow between the inlet means 28 and the outlet means29.

In this manner, the inlet means 28 of the valve construction 20 can beinterconnected by a suitable conduit means 41 to a fuel source 42, suchas a gaseous fuel source, and the outlet means 29 can be interconnectedby a suitable conduit means 43 to an output device 44, such as a gaseousburner means of a cooking apparatus (not shown) or the like.

In general, the valve construction 20 of this invention is constructedand operates in a manner similar to the valve construction fullydisclosed in the aforementioned Shopsky U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,652 wherebythis patent is being incorporated into this disclosure by this referencethereto.

Therefore, since the details of the structure and the operation of thevalve construction 20 of this invention are well known in the art, onlythe details of the valve construction 20 necessary to understand thefeatures of this invention need to be described.

In particular, it has been previously stated that one of the features ofthis invention is to provide a new bimetallic lever means 37 for thevalve construction 20, such new bimetallic lever means 37 having uniquemeans for holding the heater wire 40 on the operating bimetallic part 38thereof.

The operating part 38 of the new bimetallic lever means 37 of thisinvention comprises a substantially flat blank of bimetallic material,see FIG. 4, having opposed ends 45 and 46 and opposed substantiallyparallel side edges 47 and 48 extending between the ends 45 and 46, theend 46 having an opening 49 passing therethrough for permitting thebimetallic lever means 37 to be secured to a mounting block 50 ofelectrically insulating material by a suitable metallic rivet means 51whereby the block 50, in turn, is adapted to be mounted to the housingpart 24 in any suitable manner, such as by a pair of metallic rivetmeans 52 that also secure a pair of metallic terminals 53 and 54 to theblock 50 and thereby electrically interconnect the terminals 53 and 54to the other ends 55 and 56 of the rivet means 52 and, thus, to theopposed ends of the heater wire means 40 in a manner hereinafter setforth.

The operating bimetallic part 38 has a longitudinal axis 57 extendingbetween the ends 45 and 46 thereof and has two substantially rectangularopenings 58 and 59 formed therethrough in aligned spaced apart relationalong the axis 57 whereby a relatively narrow web 60 separates theopenings 58 and 59 from each other.

When the opening 59 is being formed through the operating bimetallicpart 38, a tongue-like tang 61 is carved therefrom so as to extend intothe opening 59 adjacent one end 62 thereof and is disposed substantiallycoplanar with the remainder of the operating bimetallic part 38, thetang 61 defining opposed slot means 63 on each side thereof asillustrated and having an apex 64 that is substantially arcuate and isaligned with the axis 57 as illustrated.

The operating bimetallic part 38 is embossed with reinforcing rib means65 on each side of the opening means 58 and 59 in a manner to beparallel with and overlap the same as illustrated.

The wire means 40, as best illustrated in FIG. 5, comprises a flatmember 66 formed of any suitable conductive material and being coveredwith any suitable electrically insulating material 67 in such a mannerthat opposed end portions 68 and 69 of the conductive member 66 extendout of the opposed ends 70 and 71 of the insulating material 67.

The wire means 40 is doubled upon itself so as to define a looped end 72and a pair of free ends 73 disposed adjacent each other in offsetrelation so that the ends 73 can be respectively inserted upwardlythrough the opening means 59 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 5 to theposition illustrated in FIG. 7 and then be moved toward the end 62 ofthe opening 59 and thereby be separated by the tongue 61 to be receivedin the slots 63 on opposite sides thereof as illustrated in FIG. 8, suchassembly operation of the wire means 40 to the operating part 38 of thebimetallic lever means 37 either taking place when the operatingbimetallic part 38 has not been assembled with the ambient compensatingpart 39 and/or the mounting block 50 as desired.

In any event, after the ends 73 of the wire means 40 have been disposedin the position illustrated in FIG. 8, the doubled wire means 40 iswound about the operating bimetallic part 38 from side edge 47 to sideedge 48 thereof as illustrated in FIG. 9 until eventually the looped end72 is then adapted to be pushed through the other opening means 58 ofthe operating bimetallic part 38 and then be bent against the under side74 thereof in the manner illustrated in FIG. 10 and 11. In this manner,it can be seen that the looped end 72 of the wire means 40 has a firstsection 75 thereof disposed against one side 76 of the operatingbimetallic part 38, a second section 77 thereof disposed in the openingmeans 58 and a third section 78 thereof disposed against the side 74 ofthe operating bimetallic part 38. Thus, the opening means 58 acts as afastening means to operatively interconnect the heater wire means 40 tothe operating bimetallic part 38 to hold the wire means 40 in the coiledrelation on the operating part 38 of the bimetallic lever means 37.

Either after the wire means 40 has been coiled on the operatingbimetallic part 38 in the manner previously described or before, theends 72 of the wire means 40 are respectively bent away from each otherand down against the side 76 of the operating bimetallic part 38 in themanner illustrated in FIG. 12 and then bent at right angles relativethereto so as to place the bared ends 68 and 69 thereof against therivet ends 56 and 55 to be electrically interconnected thereto in anysuitable manner, such as by soldering or the like so that the terminals53 and 54 will subsequently be electrically interconnected to the ends68 and 69 of the wire means 40 so as to pass an electrical currenttherethrough to cause heating of the operating bimetallic part 38 of thebimetallic lever means 37 for the reasons previously set forth.

Therefore, it can be seen that it is a relatively simple method of thisinvention to form the bimetallic lever means 37 so as to hold the wiremeans 40 in a coiled manner on the operating bimetallic part 38 thereoffor heating the operating bimetallic part 38 so as to open the valvemember 35 away from the valve seat 34 and to permit the valve member 35to close the valve seat 34 when an electrical current is not passingthrough the wire means 40 for the reasons previously set forth.

Thus, it can be seen that this invention not only provides a new valveconstruction, but also this invention provides a new method of makingsuch a valve construction.

While the forms and methods of this invention now preferred have beenillustrated and described as required by the Patent Statute, it is to beunderstood that other forms and method steps can be utilized and stillfall within the scope of the appended claims wherein each claim setsforth what is believed to be known in each claim prior to this inventionin the portion of each claim that is disposed before the terms "theimprovement" and sets forth what is believed to be new in each claimaccording to this invention in the portion of each claim that isdisposed after the terms "the improvement" whereby it is believed thateach claim sets forth a novel, useful and unobvious invention within thepurview of the Patent Statute.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a method of making a bimetallic lever meansfor a valve construction and that has a heater wire means coiled aboutan operating part of said lever means to heat the same when anelectrical current flows through said wire means and which is doubledupon itself so as to have a pair of free ends adjacent each other and alooped end fastened to fastening means of said operating part, theimprovement comprising the steps of doubling said wire means upon itselfto define said looped end and said pair of free ends adjacent each otherbut in offset parallel relation, inserting said free ends in said offsetparallel relation into one end of a first opening through said operatingpart, moving said inserted free ends toward another end of said firstopening so that said free ends are separated from each other by a tongueof said operating part that projects into said first opening and definesslots on each side of said tongue that respectively receive said freeends therein as said free ends are moved toward said other end of saidfirst opening, winding the doubled part of said wire means about saidoperating part from one side edge thereof to another side edge thereoffrom said first opening toward a second opening through said operatingpart, then pushing said looped end on one side of said operating partthrough said second opening, and then bending said looped end that haspassed through said second opening against the other side of saidoperating part whereby said second opening defines said fastening meansof said operating part.
 2. A method as set forth in claim 1 andincluding the step of respectively bending said inserted free ends ofsaid wire means so that parts thereof are against terminal means of saidlever means.
 3. A method as set forth in claim 2 and including the stepof soldering said parts of said wire means respectively to said terminalmeans.